Field of the Invention. The invention relates to a connector, and particularly to a case that is included in the connector and contains a conductive member that can move upon connection of the connector.
Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-274290 discloses a power-feeding device that is electrically connected by contact between junctions. This power-feeding device consists of a female junction provided at the body of a vehicle, and a male junction provided at a door of the vehicle. The female junction is provided so that one end of a hollow cylindrical case extends out of the body. The case contains two sole plates, a coil spring held and compressed between these sole plates, and a leaf spring connected to the coil spring.
However, in the aforementioned power-feeding device, a sole plate composed of an insulating member is provided with a depressed seat, and this depressed seat accommodates an end portion of the coil spring. Further, contact pressure caused by the coil spring upon connection between the female junction and the male junction is applied to the depressed seat of the sole plate. Accordingly, in the case where the sole plate is composed of, for example, a synthetic resin, creep or the like may occur in the sole plate if high contact pressure (biasing force) from the coil spring is applied to the depressed seat of the sole plate or if the environmental temperature is high. The inventors herein have determined that creep or the like in the sole plate may cause the resin to break, and such breakage results in low reliability of the power-feeding device.
This invention provides a compact connector that can withstand high environmental temperature and high biasing force of a coil spring.